The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-03-25
BABEL OF FILTH.
Dssesiptjaa q . Wait - ~ BsAssw Q1as.
ter Of the City Of Anstefasm.

0oDeRlptto0 u . vlait - ~ 0ohgoW QunRs
ter d the City Of Aalstefaam.
There il = part Of this great city do
voted. or rather given mp entirely. to
the Hebrew race. It is called the
Joodenhoek. Those who have travelled
in Italy, visited the slums Of Paris.
London or New York. have something
yet 70 see to prove that mans imagine
ton Is deficient The Israelites. Of
whom $500 live in this city. have
among them some who, for wealth. in
telligcnce. and industrial energy. arc
the peers Of most men. aud yet, visit
ing the Jewish quarter, traveller will
find himself in labyrinth Of dark.
narrow. muddy alleys. hanked by old
houses that seem to be tumbling down.
Damp. ragged sheets. tattered trousers.
patched petticosts futter and swing 70
and fro on ropes stretched from window
to window, on the window-sills.
or dangling from nails driven
into the doors. In the door
ways. on the broken steps. amid
tumbling-down ratings old goods are
spread for sale. Shattered ruins of
furniture, fragments of firearms. de-
votional objects, scraps Of uniforms.
bits of musical instruments. broken
toys. old iron. dilapidated crockery.
fringes, rags, things for which it is i'm
possible to find words to describe, that
have been spoiled by rain. by worm.
by fire. by rust, by carlessness. by ILL
ness. poverty. or death; things that
servants sweep into the dust-hole; that
the rag-picker disdains to pick up; that
the beggar treads under foot; that ami
mails scorn to notice; every thing that
takes up room; that communicates; that
exhales a fetid odor; that soils; that
disgusts the least sensitive being. may
be found there in heaps and layers.
destined to become the object of mys-
FERROUS bargains. In the midst Of this
cemetery Of inanima.e objects. of this
babel of filth, lives a populace OF bag
gar,i-looking, begging. grasping men
and women. by the side Of which the
Albaicin gypsies Of Grenada would ap-
pear . clearly and sweet-smelling
race.
Here. as in all countries. they have
borrowed the color of their hair and
skin from the people they live among.
But they have preserved their hooked
noses. sharp chins. curly hair-all the
features. in short. characteristic of the
Semitic race. The dictionary does not
contain words wherewith to give de-
scription Of these people. Shaggy
heads of hair never touched by comb;
eyes that cause one to shudder, bodies
rs thin rs an unfieshcd corpse; so ugly
rs to arouse feeling of compassion;
so old that they preserve scarcely any re-
of human shape; wrapped in
every sort Of clothing. of which it is i'm
possible to define either the cut or color
or to tell the sex of the wear
Pr. Whatever they may be doing
they do it on the sidewalk. Women
frying fish upon small ovens. girls put
ting children to sleep;Men turning
over old rubbish; half-naked boys roll
ing about the pavement strewn with
rotten vegetables and refuse of fish.
scenes that can not be described, and
that compel the tourist. when he comes
forth on the border Of n broad canal,
in clean open space. to believe that
his experience has only been dream.
and yet situated as this portion of He
brews are in Amsterdam. with all the
poverty. misery and filth surrounding
hem. the records Of the criminal courts
estify that the laws of the land in
which they live are observed by them;
md that but one Jew is found in the
cellular prison of Amsterdam among
240 characterization Cor. CHI
ago Tribune.